Julian Cook

Julian Cook (7 October 1916-19 June 1990) was a US Navy colonel who was best known for his crossing of the Waal River during Operation Market Garden in World War II.

Biography
Julian Cook was born in Mounty Holly, Vermont on 7 October 1916, and he graduated from West Point as a lieutenant in 1940. Cook joined the US 504th Infantry Regiment in 1942 and made combat jumps into Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio in Italy during World War II, and his regiment resupplied and was reinforced before taking part in Operation Market Garden in September 1944. He jumped into the Netherlands near the Maas-Waal canal, and he led several troops in a daring crossing of the canal on wooden boats while under heavy German mortar and machine gun fire; Cook repeated "Hail Mary, full of grace" during the crossing due to his devout Catholic faith. Cook's men succeeded in crossing the river and assisted in capturing Nijmegen from the Wehrmacht. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions, and he became a Lieutenant-Colonel after Market Garden. Cook led his battalion during the Battle of the Bulge and the push into Germany, and he ended the war as a colonel. In 1953, he became American liaison officer to French Army forces in French Indochina, and he left the army in 1968. He died in Columbia, South Carolina in 1990 at the age of 73.